|
No sun on this Thursday afternoon, like in the morning at the junior race, but lots of rain pouring down on the peloton fo the 27th Grand-prix OST-
Difficult conditions
|
Manufaktur, making the conditions so difficult that only half of the 60 riders lining up eventually arrived at the finish line. Team Differdange was very well represented in the early break that dominated the race, but the had to settle down with second and third place for Corrado Lampa and Johan Coenen, behind a ver strong Dutchman, Bob Schoonbroodt, who managed to hold of the men in blue and white during the final. Very good race also for two young riders from Luxembourg, Luc Turchi and Mike Diener, who were present at the front from the beginning to the end.
After an opening lap led on dry roads by Gusty Bausch, the rain started to fall on the second lap as the action started with a group of seven breaking away: former winner Hakan Nilsson, Thomas Deonay, Luc Turchi, Corrado Lampa, Luc Loozen, Thomas Hartog and Thomas Baisir quickly created a gap and were nearly a minute ahead of the rest of the pack after 20 kilometres of racing.
Big leading group
|
But behind them, of course, they were not willing to accept a defeat yet and there were attacks in the peloton, with riders bridging up to the front group in several waves. Janis Dakteris managed it on his own in one of the opening laps, later Johan Coenen, Vitautas Kaupas and Luca Schrijen broke away and joined the leading group after around 20 kilometres of chasing. Mike Diener, Freek Geurts, Bob Schoonbroodt and Kevin Suarez did the same only a lap later.
They were thus 15 at the head of the race towards mid-race, 6 of them coming from Differdange (Nilsson, Dakteris, Coenen, Lampa, Kaupas and Suarez) against three from Team Amsterdam (Hartog, Schrijen
Two riders at the front
|
and Geurts) and two respectively for Tooltime Preitzerdaul (Diener and Turchi) and TWC Maaslandster (Loozen and Schoonbroodt). Thomas Deonay (LC Tétange) and Thomas Baisir (Cycles Alloys) completed the group. Behind them, the peloton had splitted up completely, with only Pieter Scheerens, Benjamin Höber, Jérôme Theis, Michael Hilgers and Beriguete Sanchez being close enough to hope joining the riders in the lead. Sanchez managed to do this after a huge solo effort, replacing a few riders with problems in the first group: Suarez, Geurts, Shrijen, Deonay and Baisir had been dropped in the meantime.
Two laps later and still under pouring rain, the race entered its deciding kilometres: there were still about thirty kilometres to go and two rider broke away from the big leading group, Bob Schoonbroodt and Corrado Lampa. The former Dutch junior time-trial champion and the best climber of the latest Tour of Marokko had a few seconds advantage on Beringuete Sanchez,
Diener and Turchi from Luxemburg
|
but the Dominican never managed to bridge up to the two, as he had already made big efforts a little bit earlier to join the first group. A group of five containing Coenen, Dakteris, Loozen as well as Luxemburg's Luc Turchi and Mike Diener were not far behind and soon, they caught Sanchez and were joined by the former champion of Lettland Vytautas Kaupas, making it four riders from Differdange, enough to control the race.
But at the front, Schoonbroodt showed no signs of weakness and with this good time-trial specialist making most of the work, the advantage of the leading duo on their chasers soon increased to nearly a minute.
winner Bob Schoonbrood
|
Enough to make Johan Coenen react. The former winner of the Boucles de l'Aulne went on chasing alone, reducing the biggest part of the gap in merely a few kilomtres. In the last lap of the race, Coenen got closer and closer to the two leaders, but Schoonbroodt still had some strength left. He attacked with 500 metres to go and left Lampa behind to go for the victory. Bob Schoonbroodt finally son the 27th edition of the Grand-prix OST Manufaktur 2 seconds ahead of Corrado Lampa and 11 seconds ahead of another rider from Differdange, Johan Coenen. An excellent Mike Diener finished as fourth and best rider from Luxemburg about a minute later with Luc Loozen and Luc Turchi. The latter did not sprint for fourth, but instead celebrated his title as best U23 rider of the Grand-prix OST Manutfaktur 2014 behind Loozen.
Note: "This site contains links to other pages, on which content and presentation we don't have any influence. These refences are indicated merely for your information and and we can't be made reliable for any of the content of any of the places our links may take you to."
Contact: ACC Contern - c/o M. Eugène Stirn - 19, rue Jules Fischer - L-1522 Luxembourg - Tél: (+352) 49 27 11 - eugstirn@pt.lu
|
